**As seen in Risk In The Week report 04/29/24, subscribe at cablefxm.co.uk/reports
March nonfarm payrolls rose 303K, this was above the median estimate of 214K. The revision added 22K jobs to the prior two months, which was marginal compared to past revisions. Average hourly earnings came in line with economists' estimates, the prints were seen at 4.1% Y/y and 0.3% M/m. As expected, the March unemployment rate ticked lower to 3.8% from 3.9%. Education and health services led the monthly job gains at 88K, leisure and hospitality posted a second consecutive month of gains at 49K, professional services has added jobs straight since November.
Economists' projections for the April figure range from 150K to 280K, the median sees the headline slowing to 240K. Looking ahead, economists do not expect the unemployment rate to move drastically higher, as the median survey pencils a 3.9% by the end of the year.
Analysts at Wells Fargo noted the extraordinary strength in the U.S. labor market as the unemployment rate has remained below 4.0% for 26 consecutive months, they said this is more than the total number of months below the level in the previous 50 years combined. Wells Fargo stands a little above consensus and sees the headline adding 250K jobs in April while they expect the jobless rate to remain steady at 3.8%.
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